Declining fleets and memories of the boom years...
- Thread starter 2savage
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chuso007
Super Anarchist
I was waiting for that to happen... 
The Q
Super Anarchist
Way back in this thread, it mentions the old jack Holt plywood boats. One of the reasons for their demise in the UK is that the Education system no longer teaches practical subjects. I did woodwork, Metalwork and rural studies ( horticulture and farming). Now it's all in Craft Design and Technology. CDT covers more subjects, more theory, less actual making things and none to any depth.
As for numbers in our club they are increasing, I do live in an area of the UK where sailing is seen as part of FAMILY life. Our club is full of familys. All sailing their different boats. Come the annual regatta week mum and Dad takes the week off and we can expect up to 150 different boats out. which for a small club out of 50+ clubs in the area is good going.
Keeping our club cheap enough helps, family membership £120 a year, plus £5 a lesson for the sailing school.
our annual regatta
Perhaps I should add we have club members of recent descent from
African, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Sri Lankan, Scandinavian, Dutch, English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish (both sides) and Cornish. Those are just the ones I know of..
As for numbers in our club they are increasing, I do live in an area of the UK where sailing is seen as part of FAMILY life. Our club is full of familys. All sailing their different boats. Come the annual regatta week mum and Dad takes the week off and we can expect up to 150 different boats out. which for a small club out of 50+ clubs in the area is good going.
Keeping our club cheap enough helps, family membership £120 a year, plus £5 a lesson for the sailing school.
our annual regatta
Perhaps I should add we have club members of recent descent from
African, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Sri Lankan, Scandinavian, Dutch, English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish (both sides) and Cornish. Those are just the ones I know of..
chuso007
Super Anarchist
That's freaking amazing. Last Sunday we were only 8 sailing lasers on our monthly Grand Prix regatta... And I live in an awesome venue for sailing, not a narrow river.
Whinging Pom
Super Anarchist
Interesting analysis on the future of boating from a Brit perspective.
The Q
Super Anarchist
I find the sailing on a river far more interesting, OK if you are in a laser or other planing class then you may not get to plane often. But you are doing something all the time. Tacking from other competitors, the bank or errant tourists in hire boats. Although the Expert sailors do triumph overall, they don't disappear into the distance as they would on a big lake, they will ocassionally run aground or fall foul of an inconsiderate river user, giving everyone a chance sometime.
River sailing certainly improves your boat handling skills..
Oh our winter club (at the same site) on Sunday, had a dozen lasers and Splashs and half a dozen Yeoman (20ft keel boats) with a gusting wind up to 40mph for the 3, 1 hour races. Had we had more normal winds, we would have had maybe 25 boats out in all..
River sailing certainly improves your boat handling skills..
Oh our winter club (at the same site) on Sunday, had a dozen lasers and Splashs and half a dozen Yeoman (20ft keel boats) with a gusting wind up to 40mph for the 3, 1 hour races. Had we had more normal winds, we would have had maybe 25 boats out in all..
Toggie
New member
We have good things going on at UW Madison with our Sailing Club.
knobblyoldjimbo
Super Anarchist
Looks good, just like I remember. Rugby Sailing Club where I started at 13 was just 35 acres and had Enterprises, GP and some Fireflies. I remember running races from the box on the roof just like that. Drawing out the course on the fixed marks with a long bit of elastic. Lasers were considered too fast.
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Very nice! Looks like fun.
The more we avoid stupid tribalism and ensure that sailing is open to people of all ages, races and genders - preferably spending time together rather than in discrete groups - the better for our sport and the better for us as human beings.
Monkey
Super Anarchist
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I still think money is the problem. The desire to spend a fortune to win a few flags is dying. I’ve been sailing since I was about 6 years old. I’ve done it for fun, done it full time as a job, and back to doing it for fun. I absolutely love it. However, I’m a grown up now and the math is stupid. I’ll admit that I just bought a fishing boat instead. I love sailing, but I’m one of those Gen-X folks not buying a race boat. It just isn’t fun anymore for the little guy.
Money is a problem, but one other issue that hasn't been covered which I have no solution for.
In the 1990's I was on a Santa Cruz 27 that was fairly competitive with three people and we could still be in the middle of the pack if someone didn't show up that week. Now if you are running a j/24 crew you have to find 5 people who fit in the weight limits and who will show up reliably to be in the middle of the pack. I am 6'2" @185 lbs and in my 40's people think I am too skinny.
While it would be great if the world wasn't getting fatter I am hopeful that slightly larger boats with a crew number limit take off. I avoided moving to the bigger boats because of the cost and the logistics of just getting a reliable number of people to show up each week. I am not knowledgeable to know how to balance crew limits and crew weight rules in a reasonable and fair fashion but as peoples lives have become busier it is really the reason I gave up on racing.
I still look back fondly on the rare occasions when two or three of us on a S/C 27 managed to beat even the Olsen 30's and Hobie 33's across the line. I fully admit racing was a tool for personal improvement so I may be the exception. But scheduling 5 crew who average less than 170 pounds when any above three were mostly rail meat felt like the hobby was more about human resources than sailing to me personally.
In the 1990's I was on a Santa Cruz 27 that was fairly competitive with three people and we could still be in the middle of the pack if someone didn't show up that week. Now if you are running a j/24 crew you have to find 5 people who fit in the weight limits and who will show up reliably to be in the middle of the pack. I am 6'2" @185 lbs and in my 40's people think I am too skinny.
While it would be great if the world wasn't getting fatter I am hopeful that slightly larger boats with a crew number limit take off. I avoided moving to the bigger boats because of the cost and the logistics of just getting a reliable number of people to show up each week. I am not knowledgeable to know how to balance crew limits and crew weight rules in a reasonable and fair fashion but as peoples lives have become busier it is really the reason I gave up on racing.
I still look back fondly on the rare occasions when two or three of us on a S/C 27 managed to beat even the Olsen 30's and Hobie 33's across the line. I fully admit racing was a tool for personal improvement so I may be the exception. But scheduling 5 crew who average less than 170 pounds when any above three were mostly rail meat felt like the hobby was more about human resources than sailing to me personally.
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Shift Happens
New member
- 18
- 8
Stumbled across this thread while looking for something else, browsed through it, EVERYONE seems to be missing the actual reason.
It is not marketing.
It is not cost.
It is not friendliness to new sailors.
It is not age and race of sailors.
To find the answer, one need only go to a coastal area (I live and sail on the Gulf Coast) and drive through several neighborhoods where young middle class people live. Every. Single. House. has an $80k+ center-console powerboat in it with stereos, tubes and such onboard. Most of the owners only fish in passing (but you gotta have a cc anyway, to hell with comfort, image is king even if you mostly just drive it around the bay with your family, cabins are for losers!)
In the 70's and 80's SAILBOATS were the cool thing young people took out with their family and friends and large, expensive, powerboats were "for old people" and sailing was what trendy young people did. Now the zeitgeist is the opposite.
I am almost certain that if one compares sales of power boats in the $80-$250k range now against sales of sailboats in that (inflation-adjusted) range then, you will find your answer.
It is not marketing.
It is not cost.
It is not friendliness to new sailors.
It is not age and race of sailors.
To find the answer, one need only go to a coastal area (I live and sail on the Gulf Coast) and drive through several neighborhoods where young middle class people live. Every. Single. House. has an $80k+ center-console powerboat in it with stereos, tubes and such onboard. Most of the owners only fish in passing (but you gotta have a cc anyway, to hell with comfort, image is king even if you mostly just drive it around the bay with your family, cabins are for losers!)
In the 70's and 80's SAILBOATS were the cool thing young people took out with their family and friends and large, expensive, powerboats were "for old people" and sailing was what trendy young people did. Now the zeitgeist is the opposite.
I am almost certain that if one compares sales of power boats in the $80-$250k range now against sales of sailboats in that (inflation-adjusted) range then, you will find your answer.
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floater
Super Duper Anarchist
quantum leap.
MauiPunter
Will sail for food
With these gas prices, we may have another sailing boom. lol.
Meat Wad
Super Anarchist
I remember in the late 70's or early 80's a friend who lived in the Ventura Keys had a 420 sitting on the dock and he said I could race it in a dinghy regatta. I went down to the launch ramp, lots of families launching boats, started asking if anyone wanted to sail/race and I got some girl around 16 or so, I was over 21 and we went had fun and did very well. I hope she had a lasting memory. Nothing else happened, just a fun day in ventura.
Not sure I would find many families at the launch ramp anymore, just old guys and fishing boats
Not sure I would find many families at the launch ramp anymore, just old guys and fishing boats
Gouvernail
Lottsa people don’t know I’m famous
no time to write a thorough explanation this morning.
Number one factor??
The tax cuts by the Reagan Administration. America decided to quit investing in itself.
Yes… taxes are often used inefficiently.
But… taxes are largely used to reinvest in infrastructure, education, and generally spent doing things tge legislators honestly believe are good for our society.
The creation of hundreds of billionaires has shuffled money from reinvesting in our society to creating a new class insanely wealthy
In the eighties thousands of people bought new sailboats
Since the turn of the century, few people can afford to even maintain their 40 year old toys.
We are too broke to afford sailboats.
Number one factor??
The tax cuts by the Reagan Administration. America decided to quit investing in itself.
Yes… taxes are often used inefficiently.
But… taxes are largely used to reinvest in infrastructure, education, and generally spent doing things tge legislators honestly believe are good for our society.
The creation of hundreds of billionaires has shuffled money from reinvesting in our society to creating a new class insanely wealthy
In the eighties thousands of people bought new sailboats
Since the turn of the century, few people can afford to even maintain their 40 year old toys.
We are too broke to afford sailboats.
billy backstay
Backstay, never bought a suit, never went to Vegas
The gas prices don't seem to bother all the Cigarette type super-fast power boat owners we see and hear screaming up and down the river every weekend.....
.
Israel Hands
Super Anarchist
^^ That. And it is surprising how people don't understand the effect that the rise of the ultrawealthy class has had on our politics and economy. I think the voting public understood and reacted in a more timely fashion to fix the situation in the Gilded Age. Not sure we ever will.
